What to Watch: Will Toyota's speed shine under the Richmond lights?
Toyota Owners 400
(⏰ Sunday, 7 p.m. ET | FOX | MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
Weekend schedule | TV schedule | Weather tracker | NASCAR 101
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Track length: 0.75 miles
Cup Series race purse: $7,886,627
Race distance: 400 laps | 300 miles
Stages: 70 | 230 | 400
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Starting lineup: Kyle Larson to lead field to green flag
Pit stall assignments: See where drivers will pit
Defending winner: Kyle Larson, April 2023
Key things to watch
Saturday sessions
Kyle Larson earned the Busch Light Pole Award by just 0.002 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott in Saturday’s qualifying session, claiming the top spot with a speed of 120.332 mph. Ross Chastain was slowest in practice but found plenty of speed in time trials to start third in Sunday’s race, ahead of Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace. Todd Gilliland earned his second top-10 start of the season with a sixth-place effort over Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano.
Larson was fastest in the single-lap speeds in practice at 121.836 mph over Logano, Chris Buescher, John Hunter Nemechek and Bowman, all of whom participated in Group A. The track slowed down for Group B with more Goodyear rubber on the track, with Michael McDowell fastest of Group B but 14th overall.
Twenty-nine of 36 cars completed runs of at least 30 consecutive laps in practice, with Ryan Blaney atop the 30-lap averages over Bowman, Buescher, Larson and Gibbs. | Full Saturday recap
Big story line
Will Toyota’s speed shine under the Richmond lights?
Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and the rest of the Toyota crew stormed to the front of the field at Phoenix Raceway three weeks ago as the 2024 short-track and road-course package hit the track for the first time in competition. Five of the manufacturers’ eight cars combined to lead 298 of the 312 laps on March 10, with Bell surging through the field for his first win of 2024.
At 1 mile in length with asymmetrical corners and a much more steeply banked dogleg than Richmond’s tri-oval, Phoenix is a beast of its own. But Richmond bears just enough resemblance for teams to put plenty of emphasis on its takeaways. In the four Richmond races in the Next Gen era, each of the three manufacturers in NASCAR has won at least once: Toyota won the first showing with Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet with Kyle Larson last spring and Ford with Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher in the two respective summer races.
The key to watch will be if Bell and his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team can continue to build on the impressive speed shown at both Phoenix and Circuit of The Americas, the two races this season that have featured the new package. Bell posted the highest total of fastest laps at both tracks — 54 fastest laps at Phoenix and 17 at COTA, with respective finishes of first and second. And oh, by the way, Joe Gibbs Racing has won 18 times at Richmond, the most of all teams, including nine of the last 16 races, according to Racing Insights.
If the Toyotas can keep up their pace, Sunday night could be another dominant showing for the new Camry XSE.
History tells us…
Expect long green-flag runs during Sunday’s Easter feature at Richmond Raceway. According to Racing Insights, there have been at least three green-flag pit stops a race in the last seven races at Richmond.
That, of course, puts a heightened focus on perfecting trips down pit road. Mistakes from either a driver or crewman could easily turn a race-winning effort into a disappointing day — and quickly. Tyler Reddick appeared in the hunt for the win against Chris Buescher last summer at Richmond and led 81 laps, but a pit-road commitment line violation while running second with 56 laps to go derailed his day, plummeting the No. 45 team to a 16th-place finish instead.
Per numbers provided by Racing Insights, the four fastest four-tire pit stops this season came at Bristol Motor Speedway, highlighted by the No. 20 team of Christopher Bell with a 9.209-second stop, besting the crews of JGR’s Denny Hamlin, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott.
The No. 12 Team Penske crew for Ryan Blaney leads the series in average four-tire stops at 10.77 seconds ahead of William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick team at 10.96 seconds, with Briscoe’s No. 14 team third (10.977 seconds), Elliott’s No. 9 team fourth (11.058 seconds) and his teammate Kyle Larson’s No. 5 team a fitting fifth (11.085 seconds).
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
Joey Logano. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years since Logano’s last trip to Victory Lane at Richmond. What might be more jarring is that his lone win since claiming the 2022 championship at Phoenix came over a year ago at Atlanta, a drafting track. Nonetheless, opening at a fitting 22-1 odds entering this weekend’s contest according to DraftKings, Logano should not be flying too under the radar. The two-time Richmond winner has finished seventh or better in each of his last three Richmond starts, including a sixth-place effort in the second 2022 race at the 0.75-mile oval after leading 222 laps. | Richmond odds
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Turning Point: Trends from COTA, heading to Richmond | Read article
• Busch, Bell moving forward: Ex-teammates chat after COTA confrontation; see where they stand | Read article
• Hopping into the holiday: Looking back at every time NASCAR has raced on Easter | Photo gallery
• Mr. 300: Buescher returns to Richmond seeking consecutive wins in 300th Cup start | Read article
• Willy B. set for more?: No. 24 driver first to win multiple races in 2024; how others to accomplish that have fared | Photo gallery
• Scenes from Sonoma: Goodyear tire testing takes to California road course | Photo gallery
• Dash 4 Cash back in action: Xfinity Series program returns with a qualifier at Richmond | Read article
• Reliving Richmond: Look back through the most memorable moments from RVA | Photo gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Picks to click from our video library for Richmond viewing | Read article
• 36 for 36: NASCAR survivor pool selections for Richmond | Read article
• Fearless prediction: Racing Insights projects the final race results | Read article
• Fantasy Fastlane: Lineup advice for Richmond | Sleepers, drivers to avoid
• Paint Scheme Preview: Keselowski looks to build momentum with BuildSubmarines.com scheme | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Busch to turn fury into Richmond win? | Latest driver rankings
Fast facts ⏩
Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• There has not been an overtime finish yet in 2024. This is only the second time since 2004, when the rule was implemented midseason, that there has not been an overtime finish in the first six races.
• Three drivers finished inside the top 10 in both races at Richmond in 2023. All three drove for Ford.
• Chevrolet has only won three of the last 16 Richmond races.
